New outposts in Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Portland, Oregon, have driven a 16 per cent jump in quarterly membership revenue at Soho House.
Memberships at the private members’ club for global creatives rose by about 6,000 to 204,028 in the second quarter of this year as the club’s waiting list grew to a record high of 110,000.
Revenue generated from memberships rose to $103.6 million, from $89.2 million a year earlier. Memberships accounted for a third of total revenues, which grew by 5.6 per cent to $305.1 million.
The New York-listed company has a string of celebrity members, including Kendall Jenner, Kate Moss and Ellie Goulding. The private members’ club’s house at 76 Dean Street in Soho, central London, was the setting of the first date between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“Soho House member growth was driven by the strong opening of Soho House Sao Paulo, our first house in South America, and other new openings such as Mexico City and Portland,” Andrew Carnie, 50, its chief executive, said. “We now have 26 houses that have opened since 2018 and are still in their ramp-up phase.”
Revenue per available room, a key industry measure, was flat year-on-year. Soho House reported a net loss of $33.9 million for the quarter, wider than the $2.6 million loss a year earlier.
Carnie said that members’ satisfaction scores had improved in the last quarter after reports of overcrowding at some venues. He said the company was focusing on increasing its speed of service, enhanced member recognition and offering experiences that members cannot find anywhere else. Recent events have included a pop-up at Glastonbury Festival.
• Record waiting list for elite Soho House
Founded in 1995 in London as a venue for executives in the creative industries, the group now has 44 houses, including 13 in Britain and 17 in the Americas. The company was listed in New York in July 2021 at $14 a share. The price has since fallen back sharply, but was up by 18 cents, or 3.7 per cent, at $5.03 in afternoon trading on Wall Street.
This year, Ron Burkle, 71, the group’s chairman, said that he had “debated for some time” whether Soho House should be a public company or taken private. He said that while he intended to remain an owner, his preference was for it to remain a public company.